The days (or rather rounds) of both are numbered..... that 1986 reciever is going to die sooner. It will also cost me tens of thousands of dollars to buy one. Not so for the .gov.

The FOPA of 1986 is a de facto ban on civilian FA ownership ..... it is just in slow motion.

.... that said, you are quibbling: there are many NFA guns the .gov can have that us proles are prohibited. M203 40mm grenade launchers..... the 5.7 PDW ......

The more LE gets separated from the Citizen, the more there will be an "US and THEM" attitude coming from both parties. Sir Robert Peel laid down his Principles over a centruy ago ..... they work. Violating them is a a recipe for failure.

I'm not arguing that the cops should not have FA (though I don't see the utility of it in Police Work- I don't see any utility in ME having it) at all ..... I find the idea that LE thinks they are not "Civilians" and have rights and powers above that of a Citizen to be problematic.

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TheGolden Rule of Tool Use: "If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T."